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J O U R N A L O F B E H A V I O R T H E R A P Y A N D M E N T A L H E A L T HJ O U R N A L O F B E H A V I O R T H E R A P Y A N D M E N T A L H E A L T H
ISSN NO: Coming Soon
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Relationship between Materialistic Aspirations and Distinct Aspects of Psychological Well-being
in a UK sample
Natasha Parker1, Itai Ivtzan1
1. The University of East London
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of how materialistic aspirations are
related to distinct aspects of psychological well-being. Research has consistently found a negative relationship
between materialistic goals and well-being, but a review of the literature identified that the measures of well-
being used in the majority of studies were measures of what Keyes (2002) describes as “subjective well-being”
or “hedonic happiness”. Criticisms of these types of measures are that they fixate too much on the momentary
experience of pleasure and don’t take into account what is meaningful and or what contributes to long lasting
fulfilment. Very little research was found investigating the impact of materialism on “eudaimonic” well-being,
which is found through doing what is worthwhile and realising ones potential and has been found to have a
longer lasting impact on overall well-being (Huta & Ryan, 2010). To address this gap in the literature, a
convenience sample of 113 adult subjects in the UK were recruited through Facebook and asked to respond to
the Aspiration Index and the Psychological wellbeing scale. The relative importance placed on extrinsic
(materialistic) and intrinsic aspirations was compared to the six dimensions of psychological well-being. In line
with previous research, higher importance placed on materialistic aspirations for wealth, status and image were
found to be negatively correlated with all aspects of psychological well-being. However, the strongest and only
statistically significant negative correlation was between extrinsic aspirations and positive relations with others (r
= -.256, p< 0.01). Positive relationships with other people form a central component of many theories of well-
being and so this negative relationship may help to explain why materialistic aspirations are so consistently
found to be negatively correlated to a variety of measures of well-being. Further research is needed to explore
this relationship as no causation could be inferred.
DOI : Coming Soon
Corresponding Author: Itai Ivtzan, Senior Lecturer Positive Psychology, Programme Leader: MAPP, UEL,
London E15 4LZ, Stratford, Office AE.3.23, Tel. +44 (0)20 8223 4384, Email: [email protected].
Keywords: Materialism, Self Determination theory, Psychological Well-being, Eudaimonia.
Received May 09, 2016; Accepted Jul 15, 2016; Published Jul 23, 2016;
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Introduction
Materialism and Well-being
The question of whether the pursuit of money and
possessions can lead us towards “the good life” has
been asked for centuries (Kasser, 2003). Religious
sages and philosophers have claimed that focussing on
material possessions is a false path to happiness, while
at the same time we are bombarded everyday with
images on television, adverts and the internet telling us
that owning the right products and styling ourselves with
the right image will lead to happiness and success
(Kasser, 2003). So far the evidence seems to suggest
the sages were right after all. At a macro level, the
“Easterlin Paradox” has shown us that despite
increasing wealth within nations such as the UK and
USA over the last 50 years, the wellbeing of these
populations has remained stubbornly flat (Easterlin,
1974; Easterlin, McVey, Switek, Sawangfa, & Zweig,
2010). At the individual level, there is now substantial
research to demonstrate that although increases in
income initially have a large impact on wellbeing, the
effect starts to diminish once people have met their basic
needs and further increases in wealth have little impact
on levels of happiness and wellbeing (Diener &
Seligman, 2004).
Kasser et al (2007) have gone on to show that it is
not only the acquisition of wealth that does not have the
desired impact as promised by adverts and magazines,
but that by simply adopting the aims and aspirations for
material success, wealth, fame and image, lower levels
of well-being are experienced. There is now a
substantial body of research showing that materialistic
values are consistently negatively correlated with
indicators of wellbeing (Dittmar, Bond, Hurst, & Kasser,
2014; Wright & Larsen, 1993). Early studies investigating
the relationship between materialistic aims and wellbeing
in the 1980’s and 90’s in the US found that individuals
who placed higher importance on the acquisition of
money and possessions reported lower levels of self
actualisation, vitality and happiness and higher levels of
anxiety and depression (Belk, 1984; Kasser & Ryan,
1993a; Richins & Dawson, 1992a). Since then, studies
have demonstrated a relationship between materialism
and physical illness (Kasser & Ryan, 1996), mental
illness (Cohen & Cohen, 1996), positive affect and life
satisfaction (Shrum, Lee, Burroughs, & Rindfleisch,
2011) but surprisingly few studies have used
multifaceted or eudaimonic measures of psychological
wellbeing. The majority of research has used measures
of subjective well-being, such as life satisfaction and
positive affect which, although useful measures, have
been criticised for their simplistic and narrow conception
of what it means to be psychologically well (Ryff &
Keyes, 1995). This study aims to address this gap by
correlating measures of materialism with the six facets of
psychological wellbeing as defined by Ryff & Keyes
(1995). This scale was chosen because it is designed to
measure a broader, eudaimonic definition of well-being
and it is also possible to correlate materialistic aspiration
scores with six distinct aspects of psychological well-
being which may help to give a more nuanced
understanding of this relationship.
What is Wellbeing?
Research into psychological well-being and what it
means to be “well” has been organised into two main
streams of enquiry: “hedonic” well-being, which is
associated with positive affect and is achieved through
the pursuit of pleasure, enjoyment and comfort, and
“eudaimonic” wellbeing, associated with realising ones
potential and is achieved through seeking to develop the
best in oneself (Huta & Ryan, 2010). Keyes (2002)
extends these distinctions to encompass two distinct
traditions of research, one focussed on subjective well-
being which includes the evaluation of life between the
balance of positive and negative affect and overall
satisfaction with life (hedonic happiness), and another
focussed on psychological wellbeing which encom-
passes perceived thriving with regards to the existential
challenges of life (eudaimonic happiness). There are
researchers who dispute the need for distinct
constructions of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness
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(Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008) and a lack of
consensus in the field as to a specific definition of
wellbeing has made research into wellbeing difficult to
contrast and compare (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011).
However, Keyes (2002) used factor analysis of data from
over 3000 respondents to demonstrate that subjective
wellbeing and psychological wellbeing are conceptually
similar but empirically distinct. Although both concepts
are applied to measuring wellbeing, they have different
definitions of what it means to be well and so, he argues,
can not be used interchangeably (Keyes et al., 2002).
This study will use Ryff and Keyes (1995) scale of
psychological wellbeing which was designed to measure
a multidimensional model of what it means to be
psychologically well in the eudaimonic sense, rather than
using hedonic measures of the experience of positive
affect or life satisfaction. Their model of psychological
wellbeing comprises of six factors 1) the positive
evaluation of oneself (self acceptance), 2) a feeling of
growth and development (Personal growth), 3) believing
that ones life has meaning and purpose (Purpose in life),
4) good quality relationships with other people (Positive
relations with others, 5) the ability to manage ones life
(environmental mastery), 6) a sense of determining ones
own life (Autonomy) (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
How has Well-being been Measured in Materialism
Studies?
In a recent meta analysis of studies investigating
the relationship between materialism and well-being,
Dittmar et al (2014) examined 753 effect sizes from 259
independent samples and found that materialism had a
negative and significant relationship across all measures
of wellbeing used in the studies. A wide range of
measures were included that cover a variety of topics
under the banner of wellbeing. Dittmar et al (2014)
divided these into four categories, 1) subjective
wellbeing measures which cover cognitive self
appraisals of ones life satisfaction and appraisals of
positive and negative affect, 2) Self appraisal measures
which encompass measures of ones positive or negative
appraisal of oneself (such as self esteem and self doubt)
3) Mental ill health measures, as defined by DSM III
(such as depression and anxiety), 4) physical health
measures such as headaches and stomach pains and
risk behaviours such as smoking or using drugs. It is the
first category that falls most naturally into the field of
Positive Psychology research as it focuses on well-being
from the perspective of measuring a state of positive
mental health, as opposed to mental suffering or illness.
Of the 323 effect sizes analysed within the first category
of “subjective wellbeing”, 147 were measuring life
satisfaction, 73 measured positive affect, 46 measured
negative affect and 57 used composite measures, which
were defined as measuring subjective wellbeing through
a single measure of a combination of measures (e.g
some had combined satisfaction with life and affect
measures). Only 1 study contained within the meta-
analysis used Ryff and Keyes (1995) scale of
psychological wellbeing. Sheldon (2005) found that
increases in psychological wellbeing were reported when
college students’ values shifted towards more intrinsic
values, but this study aggregated scores for psychologi-
cal well-being rather than investigating the relationship
between the distinct dimensions. The majority of studies
within this meta-analysis have therefore measured
constructs that would tend to fall in Keyes (2002)
definition of subjective wellbeing.
Of course there have been many other studies
into materialism and well-being, most notably perhaps by
Tim Kasser which he summarises in his book “the high
price of materialism” (Kasser, 2003). Kasser (2003) has
investigated the impact of materialism on psychological
needs, specifically on our needs for security, feelings of
self worth, relationships, autonomy and authenticity and
has found a negative relationship between these needs
and materialistic values (Kasser, 2003). He suggests
that pursuing materialistic goals does not satisfy these
needs and so leads to lower levels of wellbeing.
Kasser’s (2003) overview of psychological needs has
some cross over with the concept of psychological
wellbeing, specifically in relation to the concepts of
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autonomy and relationships with others (Ryff & Keyes,
1995). He does not however seem to have used Ryff
and Keyes (1995) psychological wellbeing scale
specifically to measure wellbeing. The current research
aims to investigate the relationship between materialism
and the six facets of psychological wellbeing by
comparing which aspects are most strongly impacted in
comparison to each other. Before exploring this further, it
is important to also be clear about what is meant by the
concept of materialism.
What is Materialism?
Materialism has been defined as: “individual
differences in people’s long-term endorsement of values,
goals, and associated beliefs that centre on the
importance of acquiring money and possessions that
convey status” (Dittmar, Bond, Hurst, & Kasser, 2014,
p880). A defining characteristic of people with stronger
materialistic values is a central belief that their well-being
will be enhanced through the acquisition of possessions
and status (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002).
A variety of measures have been used to
investigate individual levels of materialism such as the
Material Values Scale (Richins, 2004; Richins &
Dawson, 1992) which has been widely used in consumer
research and measures the importance of material
possessions in a persons life and the extent to which
they believe attainment of material goods will lead to
happiness. Another widely used scale is the Aspiration
index which measures the relative importance of
materialistic aspirations compared to other types of
goals (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). The Aspiration Index has
been chosen for this study as it has been found that a
more accurate understanding of an individuals
materialistic tendencies can be understood from using
measures that assess the prioritisation of materialistic
values relative to other goals (Dittmar, Bond, Hurst, &
Kasser, 2014). This is because values do not exist in
isolation and so it is argued they can only be understood
within the context of their relationship to other values
held within an individuals complex value system
(Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002).
The Aspiration Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1996)
incorporates a variety of materialistic aspirations
including financial success, attractive appearance and
social status. These are categorised as extrinsic
aspirations. The relative importance of these values is
compared to intrinsic aspirations for self-acceptance,
affiliation, community feeling and physical fitness
(Kasser & Ryan, 1996). These definitions are grounded
in self-determination theory, which describes two
overarching types of motivation that stem from differing
underlying attitudes and goals behind an action (Richard
M. Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation, which has
been defined as participating in a task for it’s own sake,
and extrinsic motivation which leads to a separable
outcome such as the attainment of a reward (Ryan &
Deci, 2000). Deci and Ryan (2000) do not claim that
extrinsically motivated aspirations are either positive or
negative per se, but rather when extrinsic goals are
pursued excessively they can distract from the pursuit of
intrinsic goals and thus leave psychological needs
unmet. This could explain why people who seek
happiness through possessions and status, end up
having lower well-being overall.
Why are Materialism and Well-being negatively
correlated?
A significant weakness in much of the research
into the relationship between materialism and well-being
is that the majority of the research is conducted through
cross sectional, correlational studies. It is therefore not
possible to infer causation as to whether materialism
causes lower well-being or whether lower well-being
causes increases in materialism or if there is a bi-
directional relationship. There are however a range of
theories that have been put forward to explain this
negative relationship. Humanistic theories suggested
that the pursuit of wealth and status resulted in lower
well-being as this distracted from the pursuit of self-
actualisation (Kasser & Ryan, 1993). For example
Maslow (1956) suggested that aspirations for money,
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wealth and status was a sign of an individual forgoing
their own actualization in favour of attaining regard from
others.
Burroughs and Reindfleisch (2002) propose that
materialistic values lie in direct conflict with more
collective oriented values such as family and community
values and this internal conflict is the cause of lower
subjective wellbeing, particularly for individuals who
place value on both. This theory draws extensively from
Schwartz’s (1990) circumplex model of values (figure 1)
which shows values found to be closely aligned next to
each other and those found to be in conflict opposite
each other. Burroughs and Reindfleisch (2002) found
that materialism was most strongly correlated with power
and so most directly in conflict with values of
universalism and benevolence. Using Burroughs and
Reindfleisch’s (2002) theory of values conflict it could be
predicted that out of the six facets of Psychological well-
being (Ryff & Keyes, 1995), positive relations with others
may be the one most strongly negatively correlated with
higher importance placed on materialistic aspirations.
Their research shows materialism to be more closely
aligned with self-enhancing values and in direct conflict
with values that are more focussed on others such as
universalism and benevolence (Burroughs & Rindfleisch,
2002).
Kasser (2003) suggests that materialistic values
have a dynamic relationship with psychological needs
and that it is the satisfaction of psychological needs (or
lack of) that leads to lower or higher psychological well-
being. Kasser (2003) draws on self determination theory,
which suggests that we have three innate psychological
needs; for competence, autonomy and relatedness
(Ryan & Deci, 2000). When these needs are satisfied,
this leads to good mental health and enhanced self-
motivation but when these needs are thwarted, well-
being will be diminished (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Kasser
(2003) suggests that individuals who’s psychological
needs are not met will be more likely to seek comfort in
material goods, for example Kasser, Ryan, Zax, &
Figure 1: Schwartz’s Circumplex model of values, adapted from Burroughs
and Reindfleisch (2002)
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Sameroff (1995) found that teenagers who had been
raised by mothers who were less nurturing were more
likely to place higher value on financial success. Kasser
(1993) goes on to argue that when people spend their
time and energy chasing after extrinsic goals for money,
status and possessions, this crowds out intrinsic pursuits
that focus on building competence, autonomy and
relationships that are necessary for wellbeing in the long
term. A vicious circle is therefore created where
individuals seek to meet their needs through acquiring
money and status but this detracts from other activities
that would be much more likely to meet those needs,
thus well-being is diminished.
Statement of Research Problem
This research is interested in the relationship
between materialistic values and the distinct aspects of
psychological well-being when well-being is defined in
eudaimonic terms. The research also seeks to
understand whether materialistic values could have a
stronger relationship with some components of
psychological well-being than others. This is useful to
not only understand if there is a relationship between
materialistic values and eudaimonic well-being, but also
to gain understanding as to which aspects of well-being
are more or less impacted by materialistic aspirations.
The research hypothesis is that 1) higher relative
centrality of extrinsic aspirations will correlate negatively
with all six aspects of psychological wellbeing 2) that
higher relative centrality of intrinsic aspirations will
correlate positively with all six aspects of psychological
wellbeing. 3) higher relative centrality of extrinsic
aspirations will have a particularly strong negative
correlation with positive relations with others.
Method
Design
A quantitative correlational design was used
where a survey combining the Aspiration Index (Kasser
& Ryan, 1996) and the Psychological Well-being scale
(Ryff & Keyes, 1995) were sent out to participants using
the qualtrics survey platform. The responses to these
questionnaires were then correlated to identify if there
was a relationship between the centrality of extrinsic
aspirations and any of the six facets of psychological
wellbeing.
Participants
A convenience sample of participants was
recruited through facebook and by email. The only
criteria to participate were that participants had to be at
least 18 years of age and be able to speak English as
Intrinsic Aspirations Description Example item
Self Acceptance
Achieve psychological growth, autonomy
and self regard
“You will know and accept who you really
are”
Affiliation
Have satisfying relationships with family
and friends
“You will have good friends you can count
on”
Community Feeling
Improve the world through activism or
generosity
“You will work for the betterment of socie-
ty”
Physical Fitness Feel healthy and free of illness “You will be physically healthy”
Extrinsic Aspirations
Financial Success Be wealthy and materially successful
“You will have a lot of expensive posses-
sions”
Attractive appearance
Look attractive in terms of body, clothing
and fashion
“You will successfully hide the signs of
ageing“
Social recognition Be famous, well known and admired
“Your name will be known by many peo-
ple”
Table 1: Labels, descriptions and example items of the seven aspiration domains in the Aspi-
ration Index
Adapted from Kasser & Ryan (1996)
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the surveys were in English. A total of 135 responses to
the survey were received, but 22 were discarded due to
extensive missing data. 113 responses were used in the
analysis of which 31 were from Males (27.4%) and 81
were from females (71.7%). 1 persons gender was
unknown. A wide age range of participants took part with
mean ages ranging from 24 (7.1%), 34 (46%), 44
(23.9%), 54 (15%), 60+ (8%). Participants’ annual
incomes were also diverse, ranging from under £10,000
(13.3%), £10-20k (18.6%), £21-30k (19.5%), £31-40k
(14.2%), £41-50k (15.9%), £51-60k (10.6%), over £60k
(8%).
Procedure
A brief email (see appendix C for a copy of the
email sent) describing the purpose of the research was
sent out with a link to an online survey using the
qualtrics survey platform with a participant information
sheet (see appendix D for a copy of the participant
information sheet) attached telling them more about the
research and providing contact details of the researcher.
A consent form was contained at the start of the survey
(see appendix E for a copy of the consent form). No
ethical concerns were identified in the design of the
study, other than ensuring it was only participated in by
consenting adults over the age of 18 who had a good
enough level of English to understand what they were
being asked to do.
Measures
Materialism
The 42 item Aspiration index (Kasser & Ryan,
1996) was used to assess materialism (see appendix F
for the full Aspiration Index questionnaire). This
assesses the relative importance of seven types of
future goals (4 intrinsic and 3 extrinsic) in relation to
each other (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). Respondents were
presented with 42 suggested goals for the future and
asked to rate each item in terms of how important it was
to them that they would happen in the future. They rated
the importance of each item from 1 (not at all) to 5
(extremely important). Each item is related to either an
intrinsic aspiration, divided into the categories of self-
acceptance, affiliation, community feeling or physical
fitness, or to an extrinsic aspiration, categorised as
financial success, attractive appearance and social
recognition. See Table 1 for a description of each
category with an example item.
Seven subscale scores were obtained by
computing the mean of each aspiration sub-type. The
relative importance placed on each type of aspiration
was found by computing the mean total importance of all
aspirations (regardless of content), which was then
subtracted from the score for each of the 7 subscale
scores. This gave a mean corrected score for each sub-
scale showing the relative centrality of each type of
Self acceptance Positive relations Autonomy
Personal growth
Environm-ental mastery Purpose
Intrinsic
score
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)
N
0.046 .281** 0.172 0.02 0.017 0.061
0.63 0.003 0.068 0.837 0.863 0.526
112 112 113 113 112 111
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)
N
-0.156 -.256** -0.121 -0.109 -0.032 -0.095
Extrinsic Score
0.1 0.006 0.203 0.25 0.74 0.323
112 112 113 113 112 111
Table 2: Pearson’s Correlations between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Aspirations and the Six Facets of
Psychological Well-being
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 (2 tailed)
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aspiration. A summary intrinsic score was then
calculated by averaging the 4 intrinsic mean-corrected
scores (for self acceptance, affiliation, community feeling
and physical fitness) and an extrinsic score was
calculated by averaging the 3 extrinsic mean corrected
scores. A higher extrinsic score reflecting higher levels
of materialism (Kasser & Ryan, 1996).
Psychological Wellbeing Scale
The scale of Psychological Wellbeing (see
appendix G for the full 18 item scale of Psychological
well-being) contains a range of statements about the six
areas of psychological wellbeing: autonomy,
environmental mastery, personal growth, positive
relations with others, purpose in life and self acceptance
(Ryff & Singer, 1998). Respondents were invited to rate
each statement on a scale of 1 to 6 where 1 indicates
strong disagreement and 6 indicates strong agreement.
The 18 item version of the Psychological wellbeing scale
(3 items per dimension) was used rather than the longer
versions of the scale (up to 12 items per dimension) in
order to reduce the burden on participants as this
questionnaire was being completed alongside the 42
item Aspiration Index and so participants completed 60
items in total. The 18 item scale has been validated and
shown to correspond strongly to the full version of the
scale (.70 to .89) (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
Data Analysis
To ensure that the distinction between extrinsic
and intrinsic aspirations was supported within the
Aspiration Index, a higher order factor analysis was
conducted for the seven aspiration subscale scores.
Varimax rotation was used and 2 factors were found,
with the intrinsic aspirations in one and extrinsic in the
other (see appendix H). The analysis therefore
supported the theoretical distinction between the two
concepts. Cronbach’s alpha was .704 for the Aspiration
index and .786 for the psychological wellbeing index,
which supports the reliability of both scales. Pearson’s
Correlations were conducted between the summary
intrinsic score and each of the six facets of psychological
wellbeing and also with the extrinsic score and each
aspect of psychological wellbeing. Pearson’s
correlations were also conducted between the overall
importance of all aspirations to understand if the strength
of any aspirations (regardless of which type) were
related to the different aspects of wellbeing. The effects
of gender on aspirations were examined using
independent t tests and no significant differences were
found between men and women’s relative importance of
intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations.
Results
Table 2 below reports the correlations between
the intrinsic and extrinsic scores and each facet of
psychological well-being. As can be seen, intrinsic
aspirations related positively to all aspects of
psychological well-being and extrinsic aspirations
correlated negatively with each facet of psychological
well-being. Although many of the correlations are weak
these results are supportive of the direction predicted by
the hypothesis. The strongest and only significant
correlations are the positive correlation between intrinsic
aspirations and positive relations with others (r =.281, p<
0.01) and the converse negative correlation between
extrinsic aspirations and positive relations with others (r
= -.256, p< 0.01). The weakest correlations are the
positive relationship between intrinsic aspirations and
environmental mastery (r = .017, p<0.863) and the
negative relationship between extrinsic aspirations and
environmental mastery (p=-.032, p< 0.740). When
Pearson’s correlations were used to compare positive
relations with others with the three extrinsic aspirations
separately, the strongest negative correlation was found
with aspirations for financial success (r=-.267, p<0.004)
then with social recognition (r=-.217, p<0.022) and
weakest with attractive appearance (r=-.091, p<.340).
The strongest positive correlation between positive
relations with others and any of the intrinsic aspirations
was found with self acceptance (r=.242, p<0.010), then
affiliation) r=.201, p<.033), community feeling (r=.184,
p<.053) and physical fitness (r=.150, p<.114). The
strongest correlation found overall in the study was
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therefore the negative correlation between positive
relations with others and the relative strength of
aspirations for financial success.
Pearson’s correlations were also computed for the
total importance of all aspirations (whether intrinsic or
extrinsic) and the six aspects of psychological well-
being. This was done to assess whether the strength of
importance placed on aspirations for the future in
general had any relationship to psychological well-being.
This demonstrated some of the strongest correlations in
the study. The strongest correlations with total
importance of aspirations are seen with purpose in life
(r=.389, p<0.01), personal growth (r=.318, p<0.01) and
self-acceptance (r=.297, p<0.01) respectively. A weaker
and non-significant positive correlation was found
between the total importance of aspirations and positive
relations with others (r=.124, p<0.191) and environmen-
tal mastery (r=.137, p<0.151) and a weak negative
correlation was found with autonomy (r=-.056, p<0.557).
Discussion
This purpose of this study was to gain insight into
the relationship between the relative importance placed
on extrinsic (materialistic), aspirations for money, status
and image and the six distinct components of
psychological well-being (self-acceptance, positive
relations with others, autonomy, personal growth,
environmental mastery and purpose). It was hypothe-
sised that there would be a negative relationship
between higher importance being placed on extrinsic
aspirations and all aspects of well-being but that a
particularly strong negative correlation would be found
between extrinsic aspirations and positive relations with
others. It was also hypothesised that a positive
relationship would be found between the importance
placed on intrinsic aspirations and all six aspects of well-
being.
The results support the hypotheses as higher
relative importance placed on extrinsic aspirations (and
so higher levels of materialism) was negatively
correlated with all six aspects of psychological wellbeing,
with the strongest correlation being found for positive
relations with others. Although the correlations were
weak in most areas, the general pattern of results are in
line with many other studies that have found a
consistently negative correlation between materialistic
values and well-being (Dittmar et al., 2014b; Kasser &
Ahuvia, 2002; Kasser & Ryan, 1993a, 1996a; Wright &
Larsen, 1993). The majority of previous studies have
measured well-being through measures of life
satisfaction and positive and negative affect and this
study sought to understand which aspects of well-being
were more or less impacted by materialistic values by
using a multi-faceted measure of eudaimonic well-being
(Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
The results clearly show the strongest relationship
is between the relative centrality of extrinsic or intrinsic
goals and positive relations with others, with higher
value on extrinsic aspirations having a detrimental
impact on relations with others. This result supports the
theory that materialistic values are opposed to collective
values (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002). Schwartz’s
Self -acceptance
Positive
relations Autonomy Personal growth
Environm-ental
mastery Purpose
Pearson
Correlation Sig (2
-tailed) N
.297** 0.124 -0.056 .318** 0.137 .389** Total
importance of all
aspira-
tions
0.001 0.191 0.557 0.001 0.151 0
112 112 113 113 112 111
Table 3: Pearson’s Correlations between Total Importance of all Aspirations and the Six Facets of
Psychological Well-being
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 (2 tailed)
Self -acceptance
Positive
relations Autonomy Personal growth
Environm-ental
mastery Purpose
Pearson Correlation Sig (2
-tailed) N
.297** 0.124 -0.056 .318** 0.137 .389** Total
importance of all
aspira-
0.001 0.191 0.557 0.001 0.151 0
112 112 113 113 112 111
Table 3: Pearson’s Correlations between Total Importance of all Aspirations and the Six Facets of
Psychological Well-being
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 (2 tailed)
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(1990) circumplex of values demonstrates that values
focussed on self enhancement lie in direct conflict with
values that are “other” oriented (benevolence and
universalism) and the results of this study support the
theory that someone who places relatively high
importance on wealth, status and image may have
poorer relations with others. This could be because
someone who spends more time focussing on the
pursuit of wealth, status and image has less time to
spend on nurturing relationships or conversely, it could
be that someone who has less nurturing relationships
seeks to find security in material comforts and seeks to
build their self esteem through status (Kasser, 2003;
Kasser et al., 1995).
The results from this study support self-
determination theory but suggest that materialism has a
much stronger relationship with positive relations with
others than with autonomy or competence. It was also
clear that there was a much stronger negative
relationship between aspirations for financial success
and status and positive relations with others and
aspirations than there was for image. It is not possible to
infer causation from this study and so further research
into why aspirations for financial success and status
equate to poorer relations with other people would be
useful. It could be that placing more importance on
wealth and status aspirations give less time and
attention to their relationships, or it could be that people
who have poorer quality relationships seek to make
themselves more attractive to others through their wealth
and status.
The fact that positive relations with others showed
up as the most strongly negatively correlated aspect of
psychological well-being with higher materialistic values
is interesting as positive relationships are such a central
component of many theories of well-being (Carr, 2011;
Diener & Seligman, 2002; Harter & Arora, 2008). For
example, positive relationships is one of the five
components of Martin Seligman’s PERMA (positive
emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and
achievement) model of well-being (Seligman, 2011).
Research has also shown that placing importance on
other people is valuable for our own well-being, for
example, studies have demonstrated that showing
kindness and compassion to others brings benefits to
our own well-being, health and longevity (Post, 2005)
and that spending money on others is more beneficial for
our emotional health than spending it on ourselves
(Aknin et al., 2013). Other research has demonstrated
that the relationship is bi-directional as it was found that
people were more likely to engage in helping behaviours
if they were experiencing positive emotions themselves
(Isen & Levin, 1972) and that when we experience more
positive emotions, we are likely to feel more close social
connections to others and even show less racial bias
(Johnson & Fredrickson, 2005). All these strands of
research demonstrate how important our relationships
with others are for our psychological well-being and so a
negative relationship between materialism and positive
relations with others could explain why materialism is
consistently correlated negatively with so many aspects
of well-being (Dittmar et al., 2014)
Ryff and Singer (1995) also describe positive
relations with others as being one of the primary features
of human health, along with purpose in life, due to their
pervasiveness across ethical, philosophical and social
science formulations of health. They suggest it is an
individuals sense of purpose and deep connections to
others that build and maintain self acceptance,
autonomy, mastery and personal growth which then
serve to enhance the primary features of purpose and
positive relations with others (Ryff & Singer, 1998).
Interestingly, when the total strength of all aspirations
(regardless of content) was correlated with the six facets
of psychological well-being, the strongest relationship
was with “purpose”. The results of this study would
therefore suggest that simply having aspirations for the
future is positively related to one of the primary facets of
positive psychological health (purpose) but in order to
meet the other primary feature (positive relations with
others), it is better to ensure that those goals are intrinsic
in nature. Once again causation cannot be inferred, as it
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cannot be seen whether people who have more
aspirations in life feel more purpose in life or whether
people have more purpose are more likely to adopt
stronger aspirations in life.
Limitations of the Research
Another caveat to this research is also that the
Aspiration Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1996) classifies certain
goals as intrinsic and certain goals as extrinsic, but self
determination theory states that types of goals are not
necessarily inherently extrinsic or intrinsic in themselves
but rather the reason for pursuing them is what makes
them intrinsically or extrinsically motivated (Ryan & Deci,
2000). For example someone could say they want to
“work for the betterment of society” (classed as an
intrinsic goal) because they think it will make them look
good to others (an extrinsic motivation). There are a
number of other limitations to the research. Firstly it is
based on self-reported aspirations and levels of well-
being and so could be prone to respondents responding
in a socially desirable way. A further limitation is that a
relatively small sample was used from within the UK only
and so the results are not cross culturally generalizable.
Directions for Future Research
This research adds further weight to the
association between materialistic values and lower
psychological well-being but a logical next question to
come out of the research is why some people place
more value on goals for wealth, status and image than
on intrinsic goals like the quality of their relationships.
Kasser (2003) offers two possible explanations to this
question, one based on psychological needs in that
when our needs for security, autonomy, competence and
positive relations are not met, we seek comfort in
material goods as a method of trying to meet these
needs. His second explanation is that the current
dominant economic system of American Corporate
Capitalism (ACC) encourages and promotes a set of
values that are grounded in self interest, a desire for
financial success, high levels of consumption and a
competitive interpersonal style and so it is not surprising
that many people adopt these values (Kasser, Cohn,
Kanner, & Ryan, 2007). Considering the wealth of
evidence demonstrating the negative relationship
between these values and well-being, further inter-
disciplinary research into alternative economic models
that could promote values more conducive to well-being
could be of great value. Marks (2011) suggests that
Positive Psychology can have a greater social impact if
the field connects with other disciplines such as
economics and sociology and if the dominant values
being promoted in society are being shown to be
detrimental to well-being, perhaps this is an area ripe for
inter-disciplinary research.
A key criticism of Positive Psychology as a
discipline is that there is too much emphasis on an
individuals influence on their own well-being whilst
ignoring wider political, economic and cultural factors
that can significantly impact on an individuals well-being
(Becker & Marecek, 2008; Ehrenreich, 2010). The strong
consumerist messages inherent within a capitalist
economic system striving for constant economic growth
will clearly have an impact on the values adopted by
individuals living in such a system and so research into
the links between materialism and well-being must take
the macro systems into account.
O’Brien et al. (2012) suggest that decoupling
happiness and well-being from over consumption could
be one of the most important contributions Positive
Psychology can make to societal well-being as the
relationship between materialism and well-being is not
only linked to the improvement of individual’s
psychological well-being but also to the issues of
environmental degradation and climate change. The
lifestyles and levels of consumption of the richest
countries are causing wide scale environmental
degradation, which has the greatest impact on poorer
nations and so there are far reaching wider implications
of demonstrating the negative relationship between well-
being and over consumption in terms of environmental
sustainability (O’Brien et al, 2012). Further research into
why individuals adopt more materialistic aspirations and
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how they can be supported to adopt more intrinsic
aspirations could be useful to help influence economic
and environmental policy as well as to support
individuals enhance their own well-being.
Conclusion
This research has demonstrated that the negative
relationship between materialistic aspirations and well-
being does seem to extend beyond subjective well-being
and into the realm of eudaimonic well-being. It has also
shown that there is a particularly strong relationship
between materialistic values and poorer relationships
with other people. This is perhaps one reason why
research has found materialistic values to be negatively
related to a multitude of well-being indicators (Dittmar et
al., 2014). The importance of positive relations with
others to well-being is so well documented in Positive
Psychology research that when Chris Peterson was
asked to summarise Positive Psychology in two words or
less he famously responded with: “other peo-
ple” (Seligman, 2011, p. 20). The negative relationship
between materialistic values and well-being is of course
not a new revelation discovered by social scientists, but
one that has been at the core of messages from
philosophers and religions for centuries, as summarised
simply by His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “The ultimate
source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-
heartedness” (Dalai Lama, 2015).
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